Not-Godfather
by Oceanbreeze7
Summary: Challenge: Five times that Nick didn't show that he secretly cared for Tony, and one time he did. Fury got offered the position of being Tony's Godfather from Howard, but face it...being the dirrector of SHIELD is bound to give you enemies, best to keep Tony out of trouble, not that it helps much...


**_Here's a new oneshot._**

**_This one was...really awkward. I was told by my challenger that this would probably be Ooc, i tried to not make it that bad._**

**_It was...really hard, i don't like it._**

**_Hope you like it more then me._**

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Nicholas Fury was an old man- he had accomplished things that normal people could hope to achieve in a lifetime. He was previously a CIA agent, the leading, and then with the power of Howard Stark and a separate military segment of the U.S. Powers, the leader of SHIELD.

SHIELD of course had a board, people located all around the world to help vote on difficult or world threatening decisions. Although he was _not_ the main superpower of SHIELD, he was the reason why SHIELD still _worked._

The Board were a group of idiots who were too afraid to show their faces and see what they had done, or decided to do. They wanted to send in assassins after a Russian celebrity because of his so called 'involvement' with a military black market trade. Not only was the idea completely _idiotic,_ they then attempted to plant a bomb within his hotel room when Fury refused to use his recourses.

Not only did the U.S. get the blame for the bombing, but the man wasn't even within a mile of the room when it went off, killing fourteen civilians. The thing that made it _worse_ was that the man turned out to be innocent.

_'Casualties of war' _they stated, ignoring it to a point that Fury was _this_ close to disclosing their names and ranks to the Russian government and letting them all be killed.

Of course, after the incident the U.S. had greatly reduced the power of the Board, giving Fury a majority of the say on larger events, causing him to become the head honcho of everything SHIELD.

He worked on this and rose to the top of his chain after Howard had split ways a fair bit, his wife Maria being pregnant with their first born.

Fury wouldn't ever admit it, but he was…touched, when Howard called him up and personally sent him an escorted jet so Fury could see Howard's son before the press got to him.

Little Anthony was adorable, and although it wasn't upon Fury's power or rights, he swore to Howard and Maria right then and there within that hotel room, that he would do everything in his _power_, to shield Anthony.

Maria offered him a grateful smile and instead corrected him quietly.

Correction, he'd do everything in his power to shield _Tony._

x-(X)-x

Being in the head position of SHIELD led to some drawbacks, for example, relations.

Fury couldn't show that he had favorites, romantic interests, or even family, in fear of snipers or some other organization he pissed off.

Of course, he actually _did_ care.

The moment the alarms went off in the Middle East, showing that those _stupid_ Ten Rings had gone off on another killing spree Fury that gritting his teeth in annoyance, trying not to call the Board just so they'd eagerly nuke the area.

He _was_ about to send in some troops just to get rid of them, information be damned, just because they were so pesky. When the report came in that they had _Tony Stark hostage._

Fury quietly walked to his room, closing the door and locking it to his private quarters, quickly filtering through several global imaging units and heat sensors, hoping to find a _hint_ as of what happened to Tony Stark.

He was halfway through hacking his way (poorly, he hadn't done this in years) into a terrorist mob in India, hoping that they had relations when a knock on his door came.

His head snapped up, and he resisted the urge to ignore it and continue searching for his _almost-_godson.

"What?" He snapped, opening the door quickly and seeing Agent Coulson with little more than a blink.

"We're received Intel from Brazil that they had four hydrogen bombs and are planning to drop them on L.A. I highly encourage you to help us with this." Coulson reported formally, causing Fury to sigh and rub his temples.

"I'll be right there Agent." Fury sighed and Coulson nodded, turning and walking down the hallway, pausing and looking at Fury.

_'He looks…upset.'_ He briefly thought, before dismissing the odd thought and continuing to the bridge.

x-(X)-x

The second time Fury was secretly concerned for Tony Stark was when he sent Agent Romanoff undercover.

He _knew_ something was wrong, perhaps it was some odd form of parental instinct, but something was off with the way Tony was acting.

Natasha took only a month to tell Fury that Tony was _dying._

It had come unexpectedly on him, and again Fury had locked himself away In shock, horror even at the thought.

Two hours later of him wallowing in hidden grief he made up his mind and marched towards the hidden archives. He had firmly dug around until he managed to sort through all of Howard's files and all of the useful information he could find, then throwing it into some old chest of Howards.

He honestly didn't _care_ about all the other gunk, the weapon prototypes or new models for the Helicarrier that never quiet worked, instead, he gathered all of the files he could and stuffed them in, dragging the crate behind him and through the halls, ignoring the gob smacked agents to nonetheless saluted as he passed.

_"Sir?"_

"Agent Romanoff, speak to me." Fury sighed, closing his eyes as he partially didn't want to hear.

_"Stark has practically lost it. He has become a liability, endangering all of his guests and destroying his home."_

Fury let out a sad sigh- Stark _knew_ this was his last birthday and he wanted it to end with a bang, literally.

"I have a crate we have to give him, Agent. I'll travel to your location."

_"Of course Sir."_

Later when Fury was leaning back and sipping some drink, Tony blinking at him in confusion as he left, leaving behind the crate after the whole…donut fiasco…

It took everything Fury had to not spin around and shout at Tony, shout at him for _'why the hell are you giving up? Where was that smart mouthed little jerk of a kid who always used to listen in on my phone calls?'_

Instead Fury just turned, and walked away.

x-(X)-x

Tony apparently found the cure to his Palladium poisoning amongst the files that Fury had scrambled together, something that made the elder man sigh with relief.

He hadn't thought about Tony's safety for the longest time, only for the instinct to spike up the moment he was running away, chasing after a car inside of a breaking helicopter, watching an insane lunatic drive away with four of his top agents, even worse, with _Barton._

It wasn't the fact that Fury had almost died that actually concerned him. It was the knowledge that this alien- _Loki_ would need the Avenger team to take him down.

The Avenger team had Stark in it.

_Iron Man: Yes. Anthony Stark: No._

There was a _reason _for that.

There was _no way _he was going to throw his not-godson _to the dogs _and just wait for this lunatic to rip him apart, with or without the suit.

Fury wasn't going to let Tony risk himself against a battle he couldn't win.

So Fury just had to get something that was _bigger_ than Stark, something stronger and more…centered, then Stark was to divert attention.

Fury was thanking gods of various religions when Agent Romanoff managed to bring in Dr. Bruce Banner. Not only was his intellect something incredibly useful, but his…problem, was large enough to distract Tony from any target.

When Thor popped in, Fury couldn't be happier. Because with A Hulk, a master assassin (Two now that Clint was back), a Norse god and a Super Soldier, there was _no way _Tony was going to get hurt.

Not. A. Chance.

x-(X)-x

"Report, Agent Romanoff." Fury demanded, standing on the Helicarrier and watching his idiotic workers try to find a single camera that would lock onto the damage and give them a visual over what was happening.

_"We are progressing towards Stark Tower, damage is visible. There is some sort of device on top of Stark's tower that's creating the portal that's letting these things through."_

"Can Stark get a read on it?" Fury asked, quickly scanning the room, not a single person managed to get a visual yet.

_"Stark has gone ahead to confront and apparently, threaten Loki. Sir, we may have to accept the fact that Stark may be compromised."_

Fury froze, and he closed his eyes.

He would _not _break in the eye of danger. He had trained himself and trained by others after _years _of hard work, people _depended on him._

He _couldn't _risk others for the sake of his not-godson's safety.

"Don't think of him compromised until he turns hostile against you. In so, try to get into Jarvis and shut. Him. Down. Try to avoid injury."

Natasha didn't say anything, he knew that she would if anything, attack first and actually try the cognition-recalibration later (Or during).

"Agent." He spoke, voice stern as he knew she was then listening, "I don't want any lethal attacks. Believe it or not, Stark is very important."

_"…Understood Sir. We have a visual, we'll send it through."_

Fury gave a nod and tried to ignore the slight panic in his chest as the Quinjet camera's picked up a picture of Tony being _strangled _by the Norse god, then thrown _through _the glass and plummeting.

Fury's grip on the chain in front of him tightened to dangerous amounts of pressure, causing Agent Hill to glance back in slight curiosity at its protesting squeak. Thankfully, she said nothing and instead watched as_ (_Thank those god's he didn't believe in) a suit was ejected from the building and attached to Tony, flying back up and saying something to the Norse God before firing.

Fury let himself have a small smile- his not-godson was _fine._

x-(X)-x

Nick Fury watched as he couldn't do _anything._

A missile, _a freaking nuke, _was being sent towards Manhattan, sent from those _idiot _Board members towards a city.

He was going to get those sick fools _fired._

_"I can close it. Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down."_

_"Do it!"_

_"No Wait!"_

_"Stark, these things are still coming!"_

_"I got a nuke coming in. It's going to blow in less than a minute….and I know just where to put it."_

Fury closed his eyes. It seemed that more and more often he as in this situation.

"Sir." Maria Hill stated, obviously alerting him to the Board's attempt to contact him.

"Oh, let them rot in hell for now." Nick cussed, brushing past Hill who tried her best to hold a professional look, although a small smile was threatening to break through.

Everybody tensed, watching on their screens, (_Now_ they had found a visual) as the Nuke drew closer, Tony holding it tightly.

He spiraled up, not a sound until he vanished inside the portal, everybody jumping up with a cry and a cheer, some people even going to lengths to hug each other.

Fury didn't laugh or even smile; he watched the glowing portal and slowly looked down, not wanting to see the empty mocking black hole.

_'You bastard, Stark. You knew that was a one way trip…you made me fail your father.'_

He let out a small sigh, Hill turning and her smile failing as the seconds wore on, realization hitting her as for why Nick suddenly seemed so upset.

_"Close it."_

Nick opened his eyes, seeing the portal grow smaller and smaller, and in the moment that Tony somehow, _impossibly, _snuck his way through and fell through the air, unharmed.

_Then, _Fury smiled.

x-(X)-x

The Avengers were called onto the Helicarrier to examine a Chitauri body that had been pulled from the wreckage, mostly unharmed. It was mostly for Tony and for Bruce, to allow them to fully understand the alien enemies, thus, defeat them more easily in the future.

Now, not only were the workers on the Helicarier med unit idiotic enough to leave the body without anyone supervising it, they also managed to leave the door unlocked, and all of its weapons in the same room.

Turns out, the Chitauri wasn't dead, it was in some healing coma, or some…mending hibernation.

That was partially the reason why the Avengers and Fury were in a room, in the dark, (Sneaky bugger cut the lights) and currently aiming at anything that moved or hissed.

To make matters worse, Tony didn't have the suit and Banner wasn't in the same _room._

"Do not fear, Shield Brother, we shall slay this creature." Thor boomed, holding Mjolnir at the ready while Tony rolled his eyes, awkwardly holding one of Natasha's spare guns. It wasn't that he wasn't used to guns, just not this…type, the small delicate assassin guns. He preferred rifles, or something that he could safely put two hands on his room.

"…There!" Steve shouted, throwing his shield just as the Chitauri apparently hurled or spat something with a loud metallic _shhlink!_

Before the beast could fire again, three arrows were sprouting from both eye sockets and the middle of its forehead, it was long since dead before it hit the ground.

"Excellent job. Now, can someone get the freaking lights?" Fury growled, but there was no response, he turned, trying to see through the foggy blackness.

"…Uh, guys?" He heard Stark, oddly…further away then he should have been. Immediately the guarded tone of voice in Tony caused Fury to move on edge, eyes locking onto where the voice came from.

"Yes Stark?" Steve sighed, apparently tired after the whole dilemma.

"…Okay, _don't _freak out…but, uh…I-I don't think something's right here." He spoke, voice cautious and wavering, rising slightly in pitch.

"Stark?" Natasha asked, this time noticing his oddness with speaking.

There was a rushed inhale of air and suddenly Stark held it in, letting it out quickly, "Oh, _Oh…" _He spoke, with some sort of realization and shock.

"What the hell are you talking about, Stark?" Clint groaned, tired from all of the activity.

"…I think I'm hurt." Stark spoke, voice slightly distant while Fury froze.

Hurt? When could he have gotten hurt? _'The Chitauri made something with that odd noise; did it hit him or something?'_

"Is there a light around here?" Steve asked, looking around with squinting eyes while there was a pause.

"…I _might_ have a solution…just…don't make fun of me." He spoke, voice quieter before the sound of popping buttons and another sharp inhalation of air due to pain.

Slowly but surely, a glowing blue light illuminated the air brightly, casting a light onto the dead corpse of the creature, and the stunned glassy eyed looking Stark, who looked apparently dazed.

"Tony?" Clint asked in alarm, noticing the glassiness of his eyes, "What's wro-"

"Shit!" Natasha cursed, swapping to Russian as she looked at something that was imbedded next to the glowing reactor, something that glinted In the light.

"What is it Agent?" Fury spoke, using strain to keep his voice steady.

"He's been stabbed- you're bleeding out Stark." Natasha cursed again, without question Clint shed his jacket, tossing it to his partner who bunched it up and pressed it against Tony's chest, who gave a flinch and a low groan at the pain, teeth clicking together.

"Stabbed?" Steve asked in alarm, but already Fury was at his feet, walking over and grabbing Tony, elevating him so Natasha could tie a bandage around his back and keep applying pressure.

"Stark, listen to me. Listen to my voice." Fury grumbled lowly, the other man's eyes started to flutter as his complexion was even paler in color as he gave a weak laugh.

"Hey, guess you do care about me Nicky." He laughed and Fury actually wheeled his hand back and _slapped _the man. Tony recoiling in surprise and flashing his eyes open.

"The hell I don't care!" He practically shouted Tony's eyes wide in surprise and alarm as Fury practically shouted in his face, "There is a damn reason why I didn't accept your dad's proposal of being your godfather." He growled.

"_What?" _Tony practically yelped, jumping as Natasha found that a good moment to remove the knife. "You were almost my _godfather?"_

"I said no because if I said yes, _someone _would try to kill you." He snorted, looking at the Chitauri, "Not like that helped you any."

Tony gave a weak chuckle, the lights flickering on and allowing Thor to move up and forcibly remove the door from the wall when it failed to move fast enough.

"We're getting you help, Tony." Clint spoke, Steve awkwardly holding Tony's hand while Tony gave a slow nod, breathing shallower as he lazily opened one eye at Fury and gave him a small smirk, "Does that mean that you're like, my uncle or some crap like that?"

Fury gave a slight smile at Tony's ramblings, the man probably had no idea over what he was saying, "I'm not your god-father Stark, I _almost was."_

Tony blinked, and Natasha tried not to laugh at the innocent look Tony had. Clint and Steve both looked away, seeing this as an _incredibly _bizarre moment.

"…Nah, you're my uncle now. Welcome to the family Nicky." Tony gave a smirk and his eyes rolled back and he fainted, just as the medical personal rushed in and took him away.

News spread like a wildfire, and nobody questioned it when Nick checked in on Tony periodically. A few days later, Tony was discharged with a fancy new set of stitches (Red on one side, gold on the other, he said that he wanted to 'be in fashion').

A few weeks after, Iron Man was back in business.

Nobody but Nick noticed how Tony was taking less daring risks now.

And nobody but Nick noticed his next year Christmas gift, a family portrait that _somehow _had him in it from when Tony was born. He was standing next to Howard and Maria, who held the little baby Tony.

At the bottom written in a highly expensive but messy pen,

_'Welcome to the family Uncle Nick.'_

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**Review! **

**~Oceanbreeze7**


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